Clemson holds Florida State in check for 24-10 win

CLEMSON — The great chess master Garry Kasparov once said, “The phrase ‘it’s better to be lucky than good’ must be one of the most ridiculous homilies ever uttered. In nearly any competitive endeavor, you have to be damned good before luck can be of any use to you at all.”

Clemson’s secondary might disagree.

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The Tigers (4-5, 3-4) beat Florida State 24-10 on Saturday night in Death Valley, a score that suggests defensive dominance and order restored. The truth? Clemson did just enough – and got a remarkable amount of help.

Florida State’s (4-5, 1-5) first half could be taught as a case study in self-sabotage. Four drops. Blown opportunities that easily pushed toward 100 lost yards and perhaps 14 points.

The most critical miss came on fourth-and-2 from the Clemson 39 with 13:16 left in the second quarter, when Randy Pittman Jr. broke free with nothing but grass ahead and just flat dropped a ball that may have made it 8-7.

Instead, two snaps later, Antonio Williams high-pointed a 34-yard touchdown for a 15-0 Clemson lead and a full momentum swing. 

Sometimes the difference in this sport really is as simple as one team catching the ball and the other not.

That sequence fit the theme.

Clemson jumped out to an 18-0 advantage with 7:45 left in the first half — not because the Tigers overwhelmed FSU, but because the Seminoles couldn’t convert routine plays. 

A shanked field goal to open the third quarter and an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty wiping out a 15-yard conversion on 3rd-and-1 early in the second half only prolonged the theme: Clemson didn’t shut the door so much as FSU never found the handle.

Even though Florida State outgained Clemson 360-319, it doesn’t help when you go 2-for-4 in the red zone.

That lack of success for FSU was because Clemson’s defense finally made the plays it needed.

Jeremiah Alexander jumped on a fumble in the red zone on FSU’s second drive.

Ricardo Jones sealed the night with a late interception, and Aveion Terrell played one of his best games in orange, blowing up two drives with sacks off corner blitzes in the second half. 

For a group that allowed wide-open targets all night, someone still had to make winning plays and Terrell stepped up.

The win was not about perfection. It was about finally catching a break and being ready when the opportunity arrived. And as odd as it sounds, holding an ACC rival to 10 points still didn’t feel dominant.

Tommy Castellanos did all he could, leading FSU in both passing and rushing. He finished 20-of-39 for 203 yards with a touchdown and an interception, adding 11 rushes for 31 yards (sacks hurt that number) with a long run of 26. But the game never fully tipped in the Noles’ favor.

Offensively, Clemson didn’t need fireworks.

Cade Klubnik didn’t produce a stat line that will light up draft boards, but he played clean, efficient football and let his playmakers carry the load, going 20-of-27 for 221 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown.

Williams delivered the highlight catch and had a typical steady night, leading the Tigers with six receptions for 62 yards.

Adam Randall ran with real pop, no longer forced into a 60-snap burden. He finished with 48 yards on 15 carries and added 20 receiving yards. 

And freshman Gideon Davidson continues to look more comfortable every week, giving Clemson a real two-back identity. He reached double-digit touches in back-to-back games, posting 39 yards on 10 rushes and adding 13 receiving yards.

Eight Tigers caught passes, and yes – Tristan Smith got his touches. We’ve moved past the “play Tristan Smith era”; we’re now in the “get Tristan Smith the ball” phase. In Bryant Wesco’s absence, he again stepped into a secondary receiver role with four catches for 36 yards.

And one thing will be replayed around the building all week: the fake PAT.

Holder Clay Swinney barreled through two Seminoles for the two-point conversion that stunned the stadium and gave Clemson a jolt of belief. For a program searching for something positive to snowball, that mattered.

This wasn’t a statement win in the traditional Clemson sense. It didn’t look like the 2016 or 2018 machine. But after 13 months without a home win against a Power Four opponent, there was value in a night where the Tigers finally saw one go through the uprights, both figuratively and literally.

It wasn’t fluky. It wasn’t pretty. It was simply the better team taking advantage of a struggling one. Given how this season has looked with five losses, that qualifies as progress.

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Clemson now quickly turns the page to a Friday night trip to Louisville with bowl hopes intact and something more valuable than style points: momentum. There’s still plenty to fix, especially in the secondary. 

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But for the first time in a long time, Clemson won a big game at home, and even if luck played a role, it counted just the same.

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